It came from Down Under: Hawaii’s big mac attack

Macadamia nuts may be Hawaii visitors’ go-to gift for the folks back home, but like much of the flora and fauna in the remote islands, they’re originally an import.

Although historical sources vary on the exact year of their introduction, all agree that they’re native to Australia, where the Macadamia integrifolia tree grows in the rain forests of southeastern Queensland. The Hawaiian Historical Society dates the arrival of mac nuts to 1881, when William Purvis, “the young manager of the Pacific Sugar Mill at Kukuihaele on the Big Island,” planted seeds at nearby Kapulena. The story continues:

The nuts soon became popular with Hawai’i residents, but they were not planted commercially until 1921. In that year, Ernest Van Tassel leased government land on Round Top and planted it with seeds from the Jordan and Purvis trees. Then, in 1922, he formed the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Co., Ltd. Other planters quickly followed, establishing macadamia nut farms on O’ahu, the Big Island, and elsewhere.

Commercial processing of macadamia nuts began in 1934 at Van Tassel’s new factory in Kaka’ako. The nuts were shelled, roasted, salted, bottled, and marketed there as “Van’s Macadamia Nuts.”

But I know you’re all asking: Jeanne, what about chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, the double whammy of edible souvenirs? Here’s what the HHS has to say:

Two well-known confectioners, Ellen Dye Candies and the Alexander Young Hotel candy shop, began making and selling chocolate-covered macadamia nuts in the middle or late 1930s. Another early maker was Hawaiian Candies & Nuts Ltd., established in 1939 and originators of the Menehune Mac brand.

You’ll find an even more detailed timeline on the Web site of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp., the Big Island mac grower and candy manufacturer which harvested its first commercial crop near Hilo in 1956 and is now a subsidiary of the Hershey Company. That explains the blue foil-wrapped Hershey’s kisses with macadamia nuts you can find in ABC stores and gift shops. (Bay Area readers might remember that a private equity group headed by San Francisco’s Gary Shansby owned Mauna Loa from 1987 to 2004.)

You can still see nuts being processed and candies being made at the factory, from an outside viewing window, and enjoy free samples in the visitors center, which is open daily from 9:30 to 5 p.m., including holidays and weekends. The center is not worth a special trip, but it makes a great detour for volcano-bound travelers. Since Hershey’s no longer seems to have a link for visitor center info, I’ll give the details here: It’s south of Hilo on Macadamia Road, right after the 5-mile marker on Hwy. 11, coming from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; admission is free.

Jeanne Cooper

Tuddie Purdy shows off one of his Molokai farm’s macadamia nuts.

The most interesting (and tasty) macadamia nut presentation, however, may be the one found at Purdy’s Natural Macadamia Nuts on Molokai. Co-founder Tuddie Purdy is passionate about his product, to the point of eccentricity (my pecan-growing dad could be the same way), but his short talk is entertaining as well as educational, and the quality of his orchard’s unprocessed nuts is exceptional. And who doesn’t like the chance to swing a hammer and crack a few nuts?

If you can’t get there in person, you can mail order nuts (plus macadamia oil, honey and honey mustard), by printing a form posted on the Web site. No online ordering, though — this is Molokai, after all.

Tuddie Purdy is the man holding the mac nut in the photo above, which was featured in the July 12 Sunday Quiz in Hawaii Insider. A number of readers answered correctly that he was displaying a macadamia (although a few thought it might be a kukui, or candlenut) and that the tree originated in Australia (although a few species are found elsewhere), though none knew that the photo was from Purdy’s farm. Congratulations to prize winners Kathryn Bryans of West Linn, Ore., Connie Jones of Chandler, Ariz., and Paul Lum of San Francisco, and mahalo to all who took time to answer. Look for another quiz next week!

Jeanne Cooper

Visitors to the Purdy farm on Molokai take a crack at opening the world’s hardest nutshell.

Jeanne Cooper

Tuddie Purdy prepares macadamia nut samples at his farm, where the original trees were planted in the 1920s.